<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Light Within by chopstickpup</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27819715">The Light Within</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chopstickpup/pseuds/chopstickpup'>chopstickpup</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World of Warcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Death Knight, F/M, Fights, Gen, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Paladins, Scourge (Warcraft), Shadowlands, Shadowlands (Warcraft), World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Spoilers, Zombie Apocalypse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:14:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27819715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chopstickpup/pseuds/chopstickpup</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Each person made their way to their abandoned piles of armor. They both could feel it; the heavy wrongness in the air. This silence wasn’t right. Each of them made as little noise as they possibly could, preparing themselves for the worst in the silence that surrounded them. The whisper of metal and fabric is the only thing to give away the soft hints of their lives. Both pause occasionally, listening intently for some noise - any noise, any indication of life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Characters - Relationship</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Light Within</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a fun little piece that I wrote in collaboration with my fiance! This is a fic of our main rp characters that we play on experiencing the Scourge Invasion while they were sleeping peacefully in K3. What could possibly go wrong so close to Icecrown? Everything. Completely everything. I hope you have fun reading this, because we had so much fun writing it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The frozen hearth bites at Lakxy’s back as her ocean eyes flicked open. A cool arm slung across her chest, pressing a comforting weight against her ribcage. Though its owner is still resting, she can see the faintest of the icy glow shining through the cracks of his eyelids. </p><p>A warm palm fell to Lokk’s elbow, and he shifted. His eyes opened to look at her, almost immediately roused by the girl’s quiet motions. The fire was long dead - from the embers they had left this morning to only the cool ash, barely warm against the hearth. The only light around the room came from Lokk’s softly glowing eyes. A finger lifts to Lakxy’s lips as she listens, wide eyed, to the silence echoing around them.</p><p> </p><p>The silence greets them uncomfortably, tense. A silence that they were not used to. The two goblins peel apart, Lokk’s fingers tracing along Lakxy’s bare navel as if he wished more than anything to go back to the simpler time of just their barely morning hour enjoyment. </p><p> </p><p>Each person made their way to their abandoned piles of armor. They both could feel it; the heavy wrongness in the air. This silence wasn’t right. Each of them made as little noise as they possibly could, preparing themselves for the worst in the silence that surrounded them. The whisper of metal and fabric is the only thing to give away the soft hints of their lives. Both pause occasionally, listening intently for some noise - any noise, any indication of life. Lakxy’s heart pounded in her throat. Lokk’s fingers gripped his armor a little too tightly. </p><p> </p><p>With a nervous inhale, Lakxy completed her armor set by drawing her helmet onto her face. Lokk offered her the giant, obsidian sword that she’d grown so fond of. She gave a noise of discomfort, of unease, and Lokk’s head dipped in acknowledgement. A silent exchange that meant to either of them the world. Whatever was going on, they were together now. </p><p> </p><p>Lakxy’s armored gauntlet pushed the door, opening it. She was met with more darkness. It’s odd, she recognizes. The Innkeeper had pressed, in the previous night, a candle into the distant alcove, illuminating the stone flooring and lengthy hallway. It had been something she expected to see, even during the daylight hours. </p><p>A cool, bright glow came from the distant western hall, and the pair of armored goblins crept toward it side by side. Sunlight greets them, streaming in wildly from the inn’s door - smashed and hanging open only by a single hinge. </p><p> </p><p>Lakxy winced from the sudden shock of bright sunlight, her blue eyes narrowing as if to block it out. Lokk behind her placed a hand against her arm, eyes surveying the room, noting the fresh trails of snowfall that had already crept into the open space. The room seemed nearly frozen from the lashing winds outside and he wondered how long it had been since… whatever had done this had done it. </p><p> </p><p>Lokk’s voice rose when his eyes fell onto someone - The Innkeeper. She stood alone in the middle of the room, swaying quietly to an unknown tune. Her back faced them but he could see that her hands, by her side, were bloodied and tense. Before his mouth could fully form the words he had meant to say, Lakxy’s came first. </p><p> </p><p>“H-Hey?” she offered into the eerie stillness. The woman’s voice seemed to snap the Knight out of his thoughts, and he pressed an armored hand to her chest as he passed her. Looking back, he shook his head at Lakxy, and though she couldn’t see it behind his helm, he frowned at her. The message was the same, either way - Stay here.</p><p> </p><p>For the first time in her life, she listened. Her eyes glued to her Knight as he approached the woman himself, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword he’d kept out of the scabbard on his back. This hadn’t been the time to keep his weapon put away, and he knew it. Those ocean blue eyes widened with shock and terror as the Innkeeper swiveled her head around - or… had she? Lakxy couldn’t tell. Her face was so soaked, so brightly red that she can’t make sense of the eyeless figure as she lunged hungrily for Lokk. But the Innkeeper - no, what was left of the Innkeeper, stopped so suddenly, struck down by Lokk’s oversized sword. Her body collapsed with two separate, soft thuds on the floor, her body split in two. </p><p> </p><p>Lokk’s name left Lakxy’s lips and for a moment, a terrifying moment, she’s a small child again. Rumors of a human massacre came to life. It wasn’t Lokk, her soft, sweet Lokk, but a blonde-haired human paladin looming before her, slaying his own people. </p><p> </p><p>“Are… you… hurt?” Lokk’s voice breaks the spell of the past and she sees the goblin moving for her. He spoke as fast as his body allowed, angry that his skills had faded in the month that he had been alone. </p><p> </p><p>“N-No… Why… Why did you do that?” she questioned, watching as Lokk paused to look down at the corpse. He was quiet for a moment, using his sword to turn over the Innkeeper’s body, showing her face. </p><p> </p><p>“She… was not-” The crunch of someone moving through the snow stopped him mid-sentence. His grip tightened again on his sword as both he and Lakxy’s heads shot up, looking at the door frame. Another goblin stood within the threshold, his fingers and face dripping with crimson. Lokk’s ears twitched in the wind as he heard Lakxy’s breath catch into a harsh gasp. </p><p> </p><p>The open doorway suddenly made sense. They were here. The Knight remembered only two nights ago when the Punks had come to find him. They had mentioned that K3 had been nearly overrun then. And now..?</p><p>Lokk threw himself at the new adversary, and the one behind that - and the one behind that. He carved a path of carnage out into the open, though he didn’t know if that would have been any better. At least, outside, they had some room to move. Lakxy would have to understand. </p><p> </p><p>Behind him, she does. She followed in his wake, obeying his every gesture with her obsidian sword flashing just as he had taught her for so many years. These… people, both familiar and strange, contorted in hideous ways, met them at every turn. Some are goblins, the goblins of the little outpost in the snow, but most were unknown - humans and skeletons and things that Lakxy couldn’t comprehend that must have been living at one point. She can’t count them all - were there dozens? Hundreds? Not all of them are goblins. Not all of them were… fresh. </p><p> </p><p>Distant noises floated toward them - the sounds of metal and shouts. The Ebon Blade, Lakxy thought. Lokk was smart about how he fought, pushing the opening of the wall of ghouls further toward the shouting of the Knights and fighting. If they were going to go in any direction, it would be toward his brothers who he knew wouldn’t leave them. His mind, briefly, so briefly, wondered if Mohs was there. </p><p>He stepped over one final corpse and looked back at Lakxy. He reached out, taking her hand in his and pulled her into a small clearing. Pushing through the legs of the Knights that were there - he was recognized as one of them, of course, and the goblin behind him as living. Lokk let go of the woman, spinning on his heel to look her over, making sure that there weren’t any marks or bites on her, beneath the small spots that he had made to let her actually be able to move about in her armor. Around them, the contingent of Knights fought on, standing in a circle shoulder to shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>Lakxy let out a quiet breath, panting as she tried to catch herself. She shook beneath Lokk’s gentle fingers, but was more than happy to take the short reprieve from the slashing claws and biting teeth of the monsters beyond their Knight barrier. Both goblins looked up at the sound of a familiar voice -</p><p> </p><p>“Lokkanz,” Mohs spoke, coming to stand beside them from the circle, it shrinking a little to fill in his gap. “Lakxy,” his eyes darted to the woman before a scream behind them sounded, followed by the noise of a crumpling body in armor. Both Knights stood, taking the place of their brother that had fallen, swords ringing in the air with the sound of voices - both those of the Blade and those of the ghouls, mingling. </p><p> </p><p>Lakxy’s gaze shifted from Knight to Knight, seeing them both covered in more viscera than she thought to ever be possible. It made her stomach churn, her blood rising to hiss in her ears. What a place this was to make a stand. We should have run, she thought, her breath billowing past her lips in great clouds as if to prove that she were the only one left truly alive in their small cluster. We should have defected - it would be better than dying here.</p><p> </p><p>No one could recall how long they fought. None of them could keep track of anything except the amount of bodies that piled up around them and how heavy their arms became over time. They struggled to carve a path for themselves through limp bodies and flailing arms, struggled to make their way to the ever distant entrance to K3 - their only hope of escape. The group sliced down wave after wave of the Scourge. The vile, hungering horde seemed absolutely endless. Cutting one down only gave enough room for two more to crawl at them, shrieking for their blood. </p><p> </p><p>For a time, what seemed like a long time, the Knights plus Lakxy held their own. They kept their line until it seemed like the hoard was thinning. Some Knights breathed easier, the others held their breath. Turning, Lokk spotted it - the reason that the ghouls had been so willing to be scared away. His hand rose, one still gripping his hilt, to hit Mohs’ hip beside him, fear draining his face of whatever little color he still had left in him. </p><p> </p><p>A giant abomination lumbered toward them, overstuffed with pieces that didn’t belong to it. It stood no less than four times the height of Mohs - who was no small man by any right. It held in one hand a massive chain, a sickeningly sharp looking hook at the end of it. When its mouth opened, it roared out, spittle and gore flying toward them. </p><p> </p><p>Lakxy was the first to react. Her scream caught in her throat as the abomination swung its arm. The surrounding Knights seemed to move in slow motion, none of them moving in enough time to avoid getting bowled over by the thick, meaty fist that crashed into them. They scattered like playthings, little dolls to the monster before them. </p><p> </p><p>Lakxy couldn’t feel Lokk beside her anymore; she could only hear the hiss of ghouls above her head, feeling their claws digging at the weakest spots of her armor. Her breath was gone. She couldn’t inhale. Why couldn’t she breathe? What was happening? She pressed her helmed face into the cold snow, stuck and afraid, her senses askew. </p><p>
  <i>This is it.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly her senses came back in a flood - the gnashing teeth of a ghoul trying to crunch into the soft tissue of her armored neck bringing her back to the present. Pain filled her, a burning sensation in her left leg made her groan, her breath shaky as she attempted to push the monster away from her. Her head lifted, blue eyes searching, searching, until she found him. Lokk. He was there, she could barely see him between blood pooling in her eyes and bodies surging around them like the ocean. She could see him struggling on the ground himself, his body swaying, sword swinging in the air. She could hear his voice, a desperate cry grabbed by the wind and flung away as if it were nothing. </p><p> </p><p><i>It shouldn’t be this way.</i> Hot tears dripped from her eyes, pouring down her face. <i>It shouldn’t <b>be this way</b>!</i> </p><p>Small, armored fists hit the ground hard as Lakxy pressed down against the earth. It was as if she fought the very ground of Azeroth itself to struggle back upwards. First to her knees, fingers curling back around her precious blade. She didn’t even care that it was cracked, that the surface of the obsidian was splintered like shattering glass from the abomination’s hit. It was still together, that was what mattered. </p><p> </p><p>Lakxy’s voice, once soft and gentle, rose up into a scream that ripped through her throat. It was a desperate, guttural nose that escaped her in the same manner a wolf would leap from the corner it had been pinned. She was the wolf, and damned if she was going to die like this, on the ground without fighting. </p><p> </p><p>Her hands lifted her sword high above her head, a golden light sprouting from the very tip of the onyx blade. It snaked through each fissure, consuming every rupture and flaw of the sword in a blindingly bright and hot light. It met her glove and without pausing, drove itself into the woman’s very veins - into her bones and flesh - shattering both her sword and soul. </p><p> </p><p>The light exploded in a furious show. It was both violent and beautiful, radiating from Lakxy’s open eyes and mouth, streaming from her hand as it seemed to both flow into her body and expel from it. Into the obsidian it flowed, growing and growing until no longer the blade could contain it. With another scream rending the air, the blade burst into shrapnel. Bits of Light and stone flew off into every direction with a terrifying ferocity. </p><p> </p><p>Lokk grunted nearby, a pained noise escaping his lips as he crawled toward Lakxy’s side. He didn’t know what was going on, all he knew was that she had screamed. She had cried out for his help. The Knight fought instinct and terror, the burn intensifying with every fistful of snow and ice the pushed behind him as he crawled. He doesn’t know why the woman he loved was enveloped in Light, and fear gripped his chest like nothing that he had ever felt before. Even as Lakxy seemed to float there, helm thrown by the force of the Light, bleeding it’s golden heat, he saw her pain. Her twisted ankle, the unnatural curve of her spine. </p><p> </p><p>Her quivering form crumpled so suddenly as the shifting Light finally escaped her body completely that he had to lift himself from the snow, throwing himself at the spot beneath the woman to catch her as she fell. Her sword hilt was clutched in her limp fingers, kept in place only by the gauntlet. His own was long forgotten, somewhere behind him, as he cradled the woman’s form to his body. The fighting around them feels distance, nonexistent. Before him, only silence. </p><p> </p><p>“Lakxy…” he croaked, fighting back the rising panic and pain. She didn’t even twitch at the sound of her name. “Lakxy,” he spoke again, his voice firmer, pleading, desperate. This was his fault… She was hurt because of him. His fingertips lifted to her cheek, gauntlets frozen and snow dropping from them to her face, even as streaks of gold seemed to run from him beneath her skin. The last of the light was fading from her now silver colored eyes, rimming them with the last of their golden energies. </p><p> </p><p>Waterfalls of red drip from her eyes, from her nose and lips, from her ears. Lokk’s vision is blurry, but he knows that’s not what he should be seeing. He struggled, doing his best to wipe them away from her, her name dying on his lips over and over again. </p><p> </p><p>From behind, a thick figure descends upon them. Clawed, furry hands grabbed both goblins, dragging them ungracefully across the still faintly glowing battlefield. Lokk could hear a distant grunting and groaning as this happened, though his mind didn’t - couldn’t - process it. Lokk doesn’t understand when he sees Mohs - Big Worgen Mohs - grabbing at Lakxy’s shoulder, her communicator sparking and hissing angrily at him as he did. Lokk didn’t understand what he spoke, clinging to the woman as they were suddenly thrown roughly onto what felt like metal. A teleporter? He faintly remembered Lakxy mentioning it the prior night. The world faded in and out, just as their bodies faded into whites and blues, the scene of K3 and the chaos of the Scourge fading out of existence. </p><p> </p><p>Mohs lingered behind, the only witness to Lakxy’s power.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you liked this at all and wanted to toss me anything at all, tips are always welcome here at Ko-Fi!<br/>https://ko-fi.com/chopstickpup</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>